The Rules of Engagement27 June 2012

How to write an engaging press release

• Creating your press release • Practice session • Issuing your press release• Following up your press release• More practice• Final Q&A/discussion

Introductions…

• Your name and institution• Area of research• Your press release scenario

Why use a press release?

• Is it news?

Creating your press release

The angle

• Define your message • What is/are the points of most interest to the

outside world?• Think about the bigger picture

Structure

• Date• Embargo • Headline / subheading• Crucial first para• Quotes • Contacts• Notes for editors

Tone of voice and style

Don’t forget!

• Proof read your press release and get someone else to check it too

• Make sure contact details and date/embargo are correct

• Get the release signed off and send it for information to partners/colleagues if needed

Your turn…

Issuing your press release

• Target your press release• Research your contacts carefully • Cover all types of media • The personal touch for important contacts

Be prepared!

• PICTURES!

• Q&A• Spokespeople

Following up your press release

• Be persistent and tenacious• Pick up the ‘phone

Afterwards…

• Collate and share coverage• Keep a list of coverage and feedback from

journalists

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: some examples

Bad

For Immediate Release: August 1, 2011

Yale University, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Stanford University Publish Study on Red Dwarfs New Haven, Conn.—A team of scientists from Yale, Harvard and Stanford Universities analyzed data obtained from the spectra of red dwarf stars in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. They used powerful instruments on the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to analyze the spectra of eight elliptical galaxies located between 50 million and 300 million light years away and have published a paper about their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.

Why is it bad?

• Where’s the news in headline or first para?• Off-putting scientific/technical jargon• Small details in the first paragraph should

come later • Jumbled and confused• So what?

Better For Immediate Release: August 1, 2011

DISCOVERY TRIPLES NUMBER OF STARS IN UNIVERSE

- Leading Astronomers from Yale, Harvard and Stanford Make Red Dwarf Breakthrough -

Astronomers from three leading universities have discovered that small, dim stars known as red dwarfs are much more prolific than previously thought and that the total number of stars in the universe is three times bigger than previously thought. The discovery, announced today (1 August) and published in the latest issue of Nature, sheds new light on how galaxies form and evolve over time.

Why is it good?

• Short snappy headline draws the reader in• Inverted pyramid of information: the news

comes first, details, background and context later

• Clear and jargon-free language• I’m interested!

Embargoed until 00:01 on 5 December 2004

CATHEDRALS COUNT

- Thought-provoking new research by English Heritage reveals the economic and social value of England’s Anglican cathedrals -

                       

New research has revealed that nearly nine million people visited England’s Anglican cathedrals in 2003 – two million more than visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach, five million more than went on the London Eye and almost twice as many as visited the British Museum in the same year. This is just one of many compelling findings in a report on the value of England’s cathedrals which is launched today (15 December 2004) as part of Heritage Counts, an annual audit of the historic environment carried out by English Heritage on behalf of the sector. 

Your turn…

Any questions?